Saints of the Day & More

Mary lived in Egypt between the 5th and 6th century, where she was thus given the title of Mary of Egypt. At the beginning of her teenage years Mary, like many of us believed she was now fully independent of her life, and believed the choices she made would not really matter for she was in control. At the age of twelve she made up her mind and left her home and set out for the city of Alexandria, inexperienced and with out the protection of her parents, Mary later fell into a nightmare of a lifestyle. Mary carried on that terrible lifestyle well near her 30's, in those 17 years no one could seem to grab a hold of her and open her eyes and make her understand that what she was doing was wrong. One day a group of people had scheduled a trip to the Holy Land, to visit The Church of The Resurrection. Mary managed to get her place on that boat and they set off to the Holy Land. While on the boat though Mary kept sinning and making others fall into temptation, with violent figh...

'Til he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then feeling a call from God, he left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary in the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreasonable commands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. John obeyed in all things with the simplicity of a child. After a careful training of sixteen years he withdrew to the top of a steep cliff to think only of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, the more he distrusted himself. For the last fifty years, therefore, he never saw women, and seldom men. The result of this vigilance and purity was threefold: a holy joy and cheerfulness which consoled all who conversed with him; perfect obedience to superiors; and, in return for this, authority over creatures, whom he had forsaken for the Creator. St. Augustine tells us of his appearing in a vision to a holy woman, whose sight he had restored, to avoid seeing her face to face. Devils assai...

Anthony was born in the village of Comas, near Heraclea in Upper Egypt Two Greek philosophers ventured out into the Egyptian desert to the mountain where Anthony lived. When they got there, Anthony asked them why they had come to talk to such a foolish man? He had reason to say that -- they saw before them a man who wore a skin, who refused to bathe, who lived on bread and water. They were Greek, the world's most admired civilization, and Anthony was Egyptian, a member of a conquered nation. They were philosophers, educated in languages and rhetoric. Anthony had not even attended school as a boy and he needed an interpreter to speak to them. In their eyes, he would have seemed very foolish. But the Greek philosophers had heard the stories of Anthony. They had heard how disciples came from all over to learn from him, how his intercession had brought about miraculous healings, how his words comforted the suffering. They assured him that they had come to him because he was a wise man....